• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, new teaser trailer

jason10mm

Gold Member
I don't think blackwashing is a thing?

Anyway, Amazon had little choice. If you want to make a show that has true global reach then you need to make it as diverse as possible, regardless if this goes against the cannon or not. Times have changed and no studio is going to make a movie/TV show today that has a majority white cast.
This is clearly not the case, well except for the "no studio is going to make a movie/TV show today that has a majority white cast" part.

Does Wakanda in Wakanda Forever look very diverse to you? Is that film only marketed towards a black audience and, I suppose, an aquatic south american derived one? Obviously not. Was Squid Games diverse? Nope. What about Game of Thrones? Hell, the MASSIVELY popular Jackson LOTR films/Hobbit were cast to be more authentic to the books and that didn't seem to limit their reception.

A show can catch fire for any number of reasons, color wheel casting is primarily a marketing ploy and these days some sort of restitution effort if not a type of extortion. When awards shows start putting in arbitrarily made casting/hiring quotas then its only understandable that it will potentially reflect poorly on the final product. Where are the north africans in Wakanda? Where are the white south africans? If Wakanda is supposed to draw from across the continent, why does it exclude so many other groups? We know why, and we know why the same folks insisting on color wheel casting for a scandinavian lore inspired and "ancient northern europe" set show like LOTR are strangely quite about monoethnic casting in Wakanda or any other show not featuring white people. Anyone complaining about the casting in Mel Gibsons Apocalypto?

Folks will latch on to any possibility, however remote, of a person of a non-caucasian ethnicity getting into a historic european set project, fantasy or not, but won't mention a thing about asian, south american, african, etc etc stuff that are mono-ethnic.

For the record, I only cry out for consistency. I like Wakanda how it is currently depicted, I only ask that the same courtesy in representation is extended to other projects with just as much of a claim to "historic precedence" as the fantasy comic book country of Wakanda. It's either always ok, or never ok, which is it? If you don't want to see all white folk in your show, then STOP SETTING THEM IN A HISTORIC EUROPEAN BASED SETTING!!! Be original with the IP. Wheel of Time, with it's post-apocalypse America (??if that was ever confirmed) setting had a good claim to ethnic diversity, expect they blew it with the "remote tiny village isolated for centuries" Two Rivers that looked more like a large metropolitan trading center.
 

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
This is clearly not the case, well except for the "no studio is going to make a movie/TV show today that has a majority white cast" part.

Does Wakanda in Wakanda Forever look very diverse to you? Is that film only marketed towards a black audience and, I suppose, an aquatic south american derived one? Obviously not. Was Squid Games diverse? Nope. What about Game of Thrones? Hell, the MASSIVELY popular Jackson LOTR films/Hobbit were cast to be more authentic to the books and that didn't seem to limit their reception.

A show can catch fire for any number of reasons, color wheel casting is primarily a marketing ploy and these days some sort of restitution effort if not a type of extortion. When awards shows start putting in arbitrarily made casting/hiring quotas then its only understandable that it will potentially reflect poorly on the final product. Where are the north africans in Wakanda? Where are the white south africans? If Wakanda is supposed to draw from across the continent, why does it exclude so many other groups? We know why, and we know why the same folks insisting on color wheel casting for a scandinavian lore inspired and "ancient northern europe" set show like LOTR are strangely quite about monoethnic casting in Wakanda or any other show not featuring white people. Anyone complaining about the casting in Mel Gibsons Apocalypto?

Folks will latch on to any possibility, however remote, of a person of a non-caucasian ethnicity getting into a historic european set project, fantasy or not, but won't mention a thing about asian, south american, african, etc etc stuff that are mono-ethnic.

For the record, I only cry out for consistency. I like Wakanda how it is currently depicted, I only ask that the same courtesy in representation is extended to other projects with just as much of a claim to "historic precedence" as the fantasy comic book country of Wakanda. It's either always ok, or never ok, which is it? If you don't want to see all white folk in your show, then STOP SETTING THEM IN A HISTORIC EUROPEAN BASED SETTING!!! Be original with the IP. Wheel of Time, with it's post-apocalypse America (??if that was ever confirmed) setting had a good claim to ethnic diversity, expect they blew it with the "remote tiny village isolated for centuries" Two Rivers that looked more like a large metropolitan trading center.

I can't fault any such criticisms because I am a bit of a purist myself when it comes to adapting mythology of any kind (including works inspired by it, like TLotR). One of my favorite books of all time is a recent creation titled "The Ghost Bride" (Choo), which accurately depicts the old lore of my grandfather's people. And I would have been pissed off if some hungry ghost showed up in that story and was like, I dunno, an ornery Irish man depicted by Colin Farrell (my favorite actor and I am half Irish BTW). Same as I laugh at modern retellings of other lore where people are randomly sourced from all over the globe. Remember that Robin Hood movie where they had a Kung-Fu temple in England?

On the other hand, today's climate is what it is. We either have to live with it or stop watching modern TV and movies (mostly). If they can otherwise remain true to the source material I can overlook say a Yennefer being half-Indian, or the lead of a Seven Samurai remake based in the old USA South being black (as was the illustrious Denzel Washington - he also played a mean MacBeth). I get it. Miscasting works if what is on paper and onscreen is still honest. If they are faithful to it.

But if they start drawing parallels to real-world events and other sensibilities I'll be out faster than the next. Trust me. Even if their messaging lands squarely in my camp. I have zero interest in that from a Tolkien adaptation.

Edit: And if anyone asks, no, I don't think the classics need updating. They're classic for a reason. Call me a purist. But I see no reason for every culture to be leaping in everyone else's mythological ponds just because
 
Last edited:

Kimahri

Banned
I think one of the saddest things about colorblind casting is how you ironically loose ethnic diversity.

Every place ends up looking the same because they're all composed of the same ethnic groups.

There is no difference if you're in Europe and Asia or Africa anymore. It's all a diverse group of people that has to check all boxes.

It's happening more and more and it makes a lot of modern entertainment very dull.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
I think one of the saddest things about colorblind casting is how you ironically loose ethnic diversity.

Every place ends up looking the same because they're all composed of the same ethnic groups.

There is no difference if you're in Europe and Asia or Africa anymore. It's all a diverse group of people that has to check all boxes.

It's happening more and more and it makes a lot of modern entertainment very dull.
Pretty sure colorblindness means that skin color is not a factor. That's not the case with the casting here.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
On the other hand, today's climate is what it is. We either have to live with it or stop watching modern TV and movies (mostly). If they can otherwise remain true to the source material I can overlook say a Yennefer being half-Indian, or the lead of a Seven Samurai remake based in the old USA South being black (as was the illustrious Denzel Washington - he also played a mean MacBeth). I get it. Miscasting works if what is on paper and onscreen is still honest. If they are faithful to it.

See, for the Witcher the Lore kinda allows for diverse casting because that world has humans snatched from Earth (?) so it's possible that thus occurred across the planet and mixed everyone up initially. The same skin colors in the native elves is a little harder to explain other than intermingling with humans or their own need for melanin diversity. I can take a visual change from the book yennifer, always described as having really pale skin IIRC just because it still fits in the Lore if I squint and the actress did a pretty bang up job. I'm less tolerant of the Fringella actress mostly because I just didn't like her performance and can't see that actress pulling off later Fringella events.

As for Magnificent Seven, having a black gunslinger doesn't bother me, so long as they don't keep a backstory of being a confederate general or something. The ethnic menagerie of that team is a bit suss with a native American, Mexican,and Asian members IIRC, but whatever and it was a lot of fun if not up to the prior M7 film, series, or obviously the incredible seven samurai.
 

DeafTourette

Perpetually Offended
I can't fault any such criticisms because I am a bit of a purist myself when it comes to adapting mythology of any kind (including works inspired by it, like TLotR). One of my favorite books of all time is a recent creation titled "The Ghost Bride" (Choo), which accurately depicts the old lore of my grandfather's people. And I would have been pissed off if some hungry ghost showed up in that story and was like, I dunno, an ornery Irish man depicted by Colin Farrell (my favorite actor and I am half Irish BTW). Same as I laugh at modern retellings of other lore where people are randomly sourced from all over the globe. Remember that Robin Hood movie where they had a Kung-Fu temple in England?

On the other hand, today's climate is what it is. We either have to live with it or stop watching modern TV and movies (mostly). If they can otherwise remain true to the source material I can overlook say a Yennefer being half-Indian, or the lead of a Seven Samurai remake based in the old USA South being black (as was the illustrious Denzel Washington - he also played a mean MacBeth). I get it. Miscasting works if what is on paper and onscreen is still honest. If they are faithful to it.

But if they start drawing parallels to real-world events and other sensibilities I'll be out faster than the next. Trust me. Even if their messaging lands squarely in my camp. I have zero interest in that from a Tolkien adaptation.

Edit: And if anyone asks, no, I don't think the classics need updating. They're classic for a reason. Call me a purist. But I see no reason for every culture to be leaping in everyone else's mythological ponds just because

Black cowboys were a thing. I wrote up a post about it some time ago. Look up Bill Pickett.

And the movie was a remake of the The Magnificent 7 from the 1960s.
 
Last edited:

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
This is clearly not the case, well except for the "no studio is going to make a movie/TV show today that has a majority white cast" part.

Does Wakanda in Wakanda Forever look very diverse to you? Is that film only marketed towards a black audience and, I suppose, an aquatic south american derived one? Obviously not. Was Squid Games diverse? Nope. What about Game of Thrones? Hell, the MASSIVELY popular Jackson LOTR films/Hobbit were cast to be more authentic to the books and that didn't seem to limit their reception.

A show can catch fire for any number of reasons, color wheel casting is primarily a marketing ploy and these days some sort of restitution effort if not a type of extortion. When awards shows start putting in arbitrarily made casting/hiring quotas then its only understandable that it will potentially reflect poorly on the final product. Where are the north africans in Wakanda? Where are the white south africans? If Wakanda is supposed to draw from across the continent, why does it exclude so many other groups? We know why, and we know why the same folks insisting on color wheel casting for a scandinavian lore inspired and "ancient northern europe" set show like LOTR are strangely quite about monoethnic casting in Wakanda or any other show not featuring white people. Anyone complaining about the casting in Mel Gibsons Apocalypto?

Folks will latch on to any possibility, however remote, of a person of a non-caucasian ethnicity getting into a historic european set project, fantasy or not, but won't mention a thing about asian, south american, african, etc etc stuff that are mono-ethnic.

For the record, I only cry out for consistency. I like Wakanda how it is currently depicted, I only ask that the same courtesy in representation is extended to other projects with just as much of a claim to "historic precedence" as the fantasy comic book country of Wakanda. It's either always ok, or never ok, which is it? If you don't want to see all white folk in your show, then STOP SETTING THEM IN A HISTORIC EUROPEAN BASED SETTING!!! Be original with the IP. Wheel of Time, with it's post-apocalypse America (??if that was ever confirmed) setting had a good claim to ethnic diversity, expect they blew it with the "remote tiny village isolated for centuries" Two Rivers that looked more like a large metropolitan trading center.

I think one of the saddest things about colorblind casting is how you ironically loose ethnic diversity.

Every place ends up looking the same because they're all composed of the same ethnic groups.

There is no difference if you're in Europe and Asia or Africa anymore. It's all a diverse group of people that has to check all boxes.

It's happening more and more and it makes a lot of modern entertainment very dull.

It's been very noticeable in recent years in historical dramas. For example, a black actress was cast as Anne Boleyn. That's just one of many recent instances of white characters being race swapped for diversity.

I get your point about consistency as you'd never see a white actor playing a black historical figure. Could you imagine Zac Efron being cast as Shaka Zulu? There would be an absolute uproar, but when it's reversed it's diverse and good.

Its the same for nonfiction adaptions, such as Rings of Power. They couldn't have it all white, so they needed to create new, diverse characters. Same with House of the Dragon with a character being race swapped because the writers of that show didn't want it to be white only.

In that sense, I certainly understand the argument that the diversity rule isn't consistent. However, I also understand the reasoning that no actor should be rejected because of their race, plus making a show more diverse makes it more appealing to a global audience.
 

Kimahri

Banned
It's been very noticeable in recent years in historical dramas. For example, a black actress was cast as Anne Boleyn. That's just one of many recent instances of white characters being race swapped for diversity.

I get your point about consistency as you'd never see a white actor playing a black historical figure. Could you imagine Zac Efron being cast as Shaka Zulu? There would be an absolute uproar, but when it's reversed it's diverse and good.

Its the same for nonfiction adaptions, such as Rings of Power. They couldn't have it all white, so they needed to create new, diverse characters. Same with House of the Dragon with a character being race swapped because the writers of that show didn't want it to be white only.

In that sense, I certainly understand the argument that the diversity rule isn't consistent. However, I also understand the reasoning that no actor should be rejected because of their race, plus making a show more diverse makes it more appealing to a global audience.

I don't believe the bolded for a second. This is a lie peddled by people who should know better, and it's establishing itself as a truth because it's repeated ad nauseum. Were the lotr movies held back by a lack of diversity? No. How about Harry Potter? Nope. Titanic? Nope.

And examples of more recent things like Squid Game shows this too.

Fact is, people don't care about this, they will go watch something, even in a language they don't understand if there is hype for it and most importantly, it is good.


I also think actors definitely should be rejected for their skin color, as your example of Zack Efron as Shaka Zule very aptly demonstrates. Sometimes you need to cast within confines of ethnicity. And you should. Take For All Mankind as an example. I am so glad the producers actually cast actors from eastern Europe to play the russians, because they actually look like they're from that region. It adds believability to it. Hiring random white guys wouldn't have sold it nearly as well.

Hollywood just needs to get its damn head out of Europe's ass. I'm european, and I love european medieval stuff. Love it. I gobble that up no matter how bad it might be. I am always thristy for more. But I want europe when I watch that, not some bastaridized version created from modern american sensibilities. If you want a truly diverse fantasy setting, go and make one. Build it up and establish it as being that way and no one would bat an eye.

Or better yet, go into other continents. Find old myths, buy the rights to books written by someone who isn't a white person writing about things clearly inspired by european history. Give me more like Apocalypto. Give me wars between tribes of native people before white man came. Give me stories from Africa, Australia, all the island nations (kudos to Disney for Moana). There's so much to gather from to create incredible stories that haven't already been told more times than can be counted. I'm not mentioning asia now, because they do a pretty damn good of promoting their history and culture themselves.


I'm just... so tired of this lazy bullshit these hacks call diversity. It's a cheap and easy cop out. Instead of creating something truly different and meaningful, you just sprinkle some people of color and pat yourself on the back.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member
In that sense, I certainly understand the argument that the diversity rule isn't consistent. However, I also understand the reasoning that no actor should be rejected because of their race, plus making a show more diverse makes it more appealing to a global audience.
Does it though? Is there any kind of global consensus that casting ethnicities counter to the historical setting INCREASES market share? I get adding in a locally famous actor for a film you want to play well in China for example or for modern settings, but in historically based fiction I don't think that is the case. Would LOTR have done MORE box office if half the hobbits were black/latino? Would Bridgerton do LESS business if all the actors were white? Outside of something like Hamilton where the ethnic divergence is part of the experience I just don't see it. Could Harry Potter have done MORE business if the Weasley's were of pakistani descent, Hermionie was from Hong Kong, and Arry Potta was Afro-carribean? Or was the appeal something that kinda required the casting we got for the story we were told to set the scene of british magic school kids?

Should white audiences turn away from Wakanda Forever or The Woman King because there are not enough white people in the cast? Should white, black, and latino people not watch Squid Games, The Kingdom, Alice in Borderland because there are no non-asian people in it? This idea that any project must have a color wheel cast is ludicrous when the SETTING and the STORY don't account for it. Lost in Space, yes it made sense and they race swapped one of the family in a way that allowed for STORY, as the father could express his love for his adopted daughter just like his own kids, and the step daughter got extra story beats outside of the family that were specific to her background (race not an issue). THAT is how you do it.

Simply repeating "an all white movie won't sell" is not only patently false but it then invites the statement "an all XXX ethnic movie won't sell" and now you've got to somehow defend low diversity films where that low-diversity just doesn't happen to be white but somehow that's ok. That makes your position on this racist

Diversity in story is generally good. Random diversity in casting, regardless of story, just to meet some arbitrary quota IMPOSED on the project, that's bad. Unless, of course, you happen to be one of the, for today at least, "desired diversity populations". But as we ALL know, this train keeps a rolling and the groups benefiting from this extortionist tactic today are gonna get left behind in time and a new group will benefit and then let the whining begin!
 

DeafTourette

Perpetually Offended
I don't believe the bolded for a second. This is a lie peddled by people who should know better, and it's establishing itself as a truth because it's repeated ad nauseum. Were the lotr movies held back by a lack of diversity? No. How about Harry Potter? Nope. Titanic? Nope.

And examples of more recent things like Squid Game shows this too.

Fact is, people don't care about this, they will go watch something, even in a language they don't understand if there is hype for it and most importantly, it is good.


I also think actors definitely should be rejected for their skin color, as your example of Zack Efron as Shaka Zule very aptly demonstrates. Sometimes you need to cast within confines of ethnicity. And you should. Take For All Mankind as an example. I am so glad the producers actually cast actors from eastern Europe to play the russians, because they actually look like they're from that region. It adds believability to it. Hiring random white guys wouldn't have sold it nearly as well.

Hollywood just needs to get its damn head out of Europe's ass. I'm european, and I love european medieval stuff. Love it. I gobble that up no matter how bad it might be. I am always thristy for more. But I want europe when I watch that, not some bastaridized version created from modern american sensibilities. If you want a truly diverse fantasy setting, go and make one. Build it up and establish it as being that way and no one would bat an eye.

Or better yet, go into other continents. Find old myths, buy the rights to books written by someone who isn't a white person writing about things clearly inspired by european history. Give me more like Apocalypto. Give me wars between tribes of native people before white man came. Give me stories from Africa, Australia, all the island nations (kudos to Disney for Moana). There's so much to gather from to create incredible stories that haven't already been told more times than can be counted. I'm not mentioning asia now, because they do a pretty damn good of promoting their history and culture themselves.


I'm just... so tired of this lazy bullshit these hacks call diversity. It's a cheap and easy cop out. Instead of creating something truly different and meaningful, you just sprinkle some people of color and pat yourself on the back.

The Woman King is based on the Kingdom Dahomey's Amazon Warriors ... But it largely stars Americans and Brits... Even though some of those Brits have direct roots in Africa (second generation British).
 

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!

It's based on a real female-ruled kingdom (one of the Benin's, if you studied them in college) that found themselves that way thanks to the slave trade among other factors.

It's actually a pretty nuanced situation and I recommend reading about them if you can. Pretty fascinating IMO.
 

Kimahri

Banned
It's based on a real female-ruled kingdom (one of the Benin's, if you studied them in college) that found themselves that way thanks to the slave trade among other factors.

It's actually a pretty nuanced situation and I recommend reading about them if you can. Pretty fascinating IMO.
Oh I'm aware of it, anf I'm looking forward to it. I just didn't quite understanf what he was trying to say to me in relation to my post.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
It's based on a real female-ruled kingdom (one of the Benin's, if you studied them in college) that found themselves that way thanks to the slave trade among other factors.

It's actually a pretty nuanced situation and I recommend reading about them if you can. Pretty fascinating IMO.

The Kingdom of Dahomey wasn't a female ruled kingdom. The king's were men.

The Amazon's were a just an all-female military unit within the kingdom.

The most interesting thing about them is that they were all women. They're combat effectiveness was poor, they were pro slavery (as was the whole kingdom, which put them at odds with the British empire when it abolished slavery) and also threw tied up prisoners and threw them off cliffs.
 

DeafTourette

Perpetually Offended

You said you wanted more stories that weren't centered on Europe... Stories from other continents. I was only giving one example of this happening. Hopefully it makes bank so more stories like it can be made.

I think Michael B. Jordan is producing a movie on Amazon Prime Video that's based on an Afro-Futurism novel. Not sure when it'll come but last I read, it's in preproduction.

Edit: it's largely made possible by a group of black actors and producers, if memory serves me right (The Woman King). But unfortunately, there aren't that many black execs or execs period who will greenlight something new like this. Especially a big budget epic.
 
Last edited:

Kimahri

Banned
You said you wanted more stories that weren't centered on Europe... Stories from other continents. I was only giving one example of this happening. Hopefully it makes bank so more stories like it can be made.

I think Michael B. Jordan is producing a movie on Amazon Prime Video that's based on an Afro-Futurism novel. Not sure when it'll come but last I read, it's in preproduction.

Edit: it's largely made possible by a group of black actors and producers, if memory serves me right (The Woman King). But unfortunately, there aren't that many black execs or execs period who will greenlight something new like this. Especially a big budget epic.
Ah, sorrt, I got confused since you mentioned brits and americand and I wasn't sure what your point was.

But yeah, hopefully it's a success. I have the book Michael B Jordan is producing, but can't remember the name right now.
 

Vaelka

Member
I think one of the saddest things about colorblind casting is how you ironically loose ethnic diversity.

Every place ends up looking the same because they're all composed of the same ethnic groups.

There is no difference if you're in Europe and Asia or Africa anymore. It's all a diverse group of people that has to check all boxes.

It's happening more and more and it makes a lot of modern entertainment very dull.

Well it mainly applies to EU and US, I have yet to see a setting that is clearly Africa/ Africa inspired that isn't all black.

Which is what actually bothers me with this stuff.
It wouldn't bother me so much if it wasn't so one-sided...

However I also do think there is an argument to be made that it makes it feel less real.
Aren't Dwarves and Elves kinda racist towards each other too?
I find it hard to believe people wouldn't be racist because of skin colors too, so it'd be weird to pretend like it's not a thing.
In Europe people have a long history of and even are racist to this day towards groups that in the US would be considered '' white ''.
It's the same in other regions of the world too, in the Middle East there's A LOT of horrible racism amongst Muslims and genocides happening because of it.
Same in Africa and Asia too, racism isn't just '' white vs black '' there's a fuck ton of racism amongst groups we'd consider '' the same ''.

I think just ignoring this and not portraying it makes it feel less real.
It also begs the question where are the asian characters in the show?
Why is it always just black people and no one else?
If they wanted to have dark-skinned characters too they could've had Haradrim, I actually would've loved to get to see their pov too.
Could even have a fish out of water Haradrim character too, the character could even be used for exposition with characters explaining stuff to him/ her too and have the audience learn of the setting through that character.
 

iPaul93

Member
I don't think blackwashing is a thing?

Anyway, Amazon had little choice. If you want to make a show that has true global reach then you need to make it as diverse as possible, regardless if this goes against the cannon or not. Times have changed and no studio is going to make a movie/TV show today that has a majority white cast.
Blackwashing is not a thing?Have you been living under a rock for the past decade?
acha.jpg


Which-Queens-Matter-How-Colorblind-Casting-Centers-White-Stories-1.png



AAAAQRfFfgLuQMtNMEHfdBAyzOFdk9qKSzV6ZQ0Y59q_6kk2vFrVfS-7f3xbfg6czzS_Otp5U-q8Aug3zbDWllcPvjJp0MJ7ZDr78ryNv3iRHRWZmXscmL60MFK5xUT1Y-1WGl_irP7HKUIxiYrbOuUQlP_WfKM.jpg



Not to mention all the fictional characters that have been replaced with black actors.
 

Kimahri

Banned
Blackwashing is not a thing?Have you been living under a rock for the past decade?
acha.jpg


Which-Queens-Matter-How-Colorblind-Casting-Centers-White-Stories-1.png



AAAAQRfFfgLuQMtNMEHfdBAyzOFdk9qKSzV6ZQ0Y59q_6kk2vFrVfS-7f3xbfg6czzS_Otp5U-q8Aug3zbDWllcPvjJp0MJ7ZDr78ryNv3iRHRWZmXscmL60MFK5xUT1Y-1WGl_irP7HKUIxiYrbOuUQlP_WfKM.jpg



Not to mention all the fictional characters that have been replaced with black actors.
Man, Achilles being black rubbed me the wrong way. He's greek! And the Illiad makes a whole deal out of his wonderful hair. Sigh.

I mean, they could just have emphasized Memnon anf the ethiopians if they truly cared about diversity, but they weren't even in the damn show. Fucking pathetic.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Blackwashing is not a thing?Have you been living under a rock for the past decade?
acha.jpg


Which-Queens-Matter-How-Colorblind-Casting-Centers-White-Stories-1.png



AAAAQRfFfgLuQMtNMEHfdBAyzOFdk9qKSzV6ZQ0Y59q_6kk2vFrVfS-7f3xbfg6czzS_Otp5U-q8Aug3zbDWllcPvjJp0MJ7ZDr78ryNv3iRHRWZmXscmL60MFK5xUT1Y-1WGl_irP7HKUIxiYrbOuUQlP_WfKM.jpg



Not to mention all the fictional characters that have been replaced with black actors.

I take it back. I actually took it back in a earlier post.

Forgot about the bottom picture from the recent Viking series on Netflix. Not only did they race swap the historical figure of Jarl Haakon, but they bloody gender swapped him as well!
 
Last edited:

BadBurger

Many “Whelps”! Handle It!
The Kingdom of Dahomey wasn't a female ruled kingdom. The king's were men.

The Amazon's were a just an all-female military unit within the kingdom.

The most interesting thing about them is that they were all women. They're combat effectiveness was poor, they were pro slavery (as was the whole kingdom, which put them at odds with the British empire when it abolished slavery) and also threw tied up prisoners and threw them off cliffs.

That's not entirely accurate. The male monarch slowly lost influence to the point in which the women militants came to de facto rule. The king became a figurehead while the nation declined and eventually vanished. They ended some kind of French protectorate if memory serves.
 

Bragr

Banned
That's not entirely accurate. The male monarch slowly lost influence to the point in which the women militants came to de facto rule. The king became a figurehead while the nation declined and eventually vanished. They ended some kind of French protectorate if memory serves.
So basically the kingdom died and a few women warriors took over the ruins and they are hyped to be something they never were because people want the fantasy of a women warrior tribe?
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
That's not entirely accurate. The male monarch slowly lost influence to the point in which the women militants came to de facto rule. The king became a figurehead while the nation declined and eventually vanished. They ended some kind of French protectorate if memory serves.


I'm no expert, but I thought they had a role on the council for around 30 years in the 1800s, but they were not overall rulers.

Not too sure of them ending any French anything. I know they got absolutely crushed by the French.
 

jason10mm

Gold Member

Kenpachii

Member
Turning to the protagonist herself, Global explained, “Robyn Hood follows Robyn Loxley, a young woman whose masked hip-hop band, The Hood, is known for their inventive videos and anti-authoritarian message.”
Oh my God that pitch must have been EPIC!!!

Actually wanna see it now haha
 

Vaelka

Member
The thing that I think annoys me the most about the whole race thing is that it's literally always only about black people.
Black people aren't the only minority in the US ( which is where this obsession really happens ).
If they actually cared about diversity then where are all of the other minorities?
 

Kimahri

Banned
The thing that I think annoys me the most about the whole race thing is that it's literally always only about black people.
Black people aren't the only minority in the US ( which is where this obsession really happens ).
If they actually cared about diversity then where are all of the other minorities?
Yep, pretty much exclusively. It's such spectacular tunnel vision bordering on narcissisim. Everyone else is just conveniently ignored.

Can't imagine being a native american watching this shit unfold.
 

Kraz

Banned
Sounds like anti-appropriation activist talk in the common room in here.
Where did you find this snippet of news for this obscure show?

Director X has a long career in music videos. lol


That should work with the premise. It also says near future. So many people from Orphan Black on this...
 

supernova8

Banned


The way he timed his wording was absolutely perfect.

Anyway, personally I'm not bothered about there being lots of non-white people. Maybe because I'm not a massive LOTR/Tolkien fan.

Plus, I never read the original Wheel of Time books but I enjoyed the Amazon Prime series enough. I did some googling and it kinda looks like almost all the cast is white (based on the book covers at least). I was more irritated by the stupid accents (Perrin's accent is straight out of modern day London) and the main character Rand looking too much like a H&M/Topman model.

The only reasons I would be annoyed by the new Amazon LOTR thing are if:
1) the cast is too well-known/already famous. I liked that practically none of the people in the original LOTR were mega mega mega famous (yet). You could argue that LOTR was what launched/jumpstarted their careers.
2) any of the cast have stupid (ie modern British (except West Country hobbit eque) or American) accents that kills the whole "fantasy long long ago" vibe. Wheel of Time kinda did that but I managed to just about enjoy it.
3) Weird acting - Rosamund Pike's acting was so bizarre in WoT. I remember bursting out laughing whenever she did her magic spells. It looked SO unnatural.
4) The series is in 4K but the CG animations are not good enough/clean enough to keep up. I remember Resident Evil Welcome to Raccoon City royally fucking up on this count.
 
Last edited:

Tieno

Member
Still not a good look that he offered to help and never got sent script like they said they were going to.
Yeah, but not because the showrunners wouldn't want to. The article says it was due to legal reasons and the Tolkien estate possibly blocking Jackson's involvement.
 

Ulysses 31

Member
Yeah, but not because the showrunners wouldn't want to. The article says it was due to legal reasons and the Tolkien estate possibly blocking Jackson's involvement.
That's speculation, PJ helping with RoP doesn't mean it will be very similar to LOTR trilogy.

If they didn't want his help in anyway then they should've told him when the suits had decided that.
 

FunkMiller

Member
That's speculation, PJ helping with RoP doesn't mean it will be very similar to LOTR trilogy.

If they didn't want his help in anyway then they should've told him when the suits had decided that.

Reading between the lines, there may well have been a clause in the contract with Amazon that Jackson could not be brought on to the project at all. Wouldn't put it past those prissy fucking idiots from the Tolkien Estate.

Very definitely sounds like Amazon would have gladly had his input.
 
Last edited:

Ulysses 31

Member
Reading between the lines, there may well have been a clause in the contract with Amazon that Jackson could not be brought on to the project at all.

Wouldn't put it past those prissy fucking idiots from the Tolkien Estate.
Possibly, but it's not too much to ask for the decency of letting PJ that they can't work with him. I'm sure PJ would've worded it diplomatically enough had he been informed. Ghosting PJ in a LOTR related project is not confidence inspiring IMO. :messenger_grinning_sweat:
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom